


I Know Your Soul

by notoneforreality



Series: QB-B3 007 Fest 2020 [30]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: 007 Fest, 007 Fest 2020, Alternate Universe - Daemons, Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials Fusion, Daemon Touching, Earie knows what she's doing, M/M, Morrigan is a little shit, Prompt Fill, Q is really quite confused, So does bond, Team Q Branch, becaues Q is, but right now Q is just confused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25609129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notoneforreality/pseuds/notoneforreality
Summary: Q's and Bond's daemons seem to be getting very close and Q isn't quite sure what's happening.He works it out in the end.
Relationships: James Bond/Q
Series: QB-B3 007 Fest 2020 [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795726
Comments: 4
Kudos: 133





	I Know Your Soul

**Author's Note:**

> Writter for--  
> This prompt from the 2017 anon list: 00Q Daemon AU where Bond's daemon seems awfully interested in Q and Q's daemon seems awfully interested in Bond's daemon and Q is just very, very confused

Morrigan ruffles her feathers and hope, and Q darts a fierce look in her direction. His face is doing a great job at staying clam — he’d checked in the reflection of his phone screen — but his daemon is giving the game away, flapping her wings and shuffling and only bareilly refraining from taking flight.

It’s been a long week and a frankly disastrous mission, and it’s a miracle that Bond has returned in one piece. Q feels his heart thudding against his ribcage and thinks  _ it’s my fault.  _

His face stays still.

Morrigan hops.

The door to M’s office is closed. Q can hear voices through it clearly enough, but his brain isn’t working on translating those voices into words, so he has no idea what Bond and M are discussing beyond the general shitshow that was the mission. He wonders what Bond is saying about him, if he’s telling M about all the mistakes he made during the course of the week.

A creak of floorboards just behind the door make’s Q head snap around, his mask slipping for a moment. With a great deal of effort, he pulls his back on again, just in time for the door to open and Bond steps out, Earie at his heels.

In a flash, Morrigan launches herself from the arm of Q’s chair and flutters around Earies head.

Q stares, slightly horrified, as his magpie alights on Bond’s coyote’s fur. 

“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” he says. “She’s been worried, just wants to make sure you’re alright. Mor!”

When Morrigan has sulkily fluttered back to perch on Q’s shoulders, claws digging in hard enough that he knows she can feel it, too, Q dares to look up at Bond, who still hasn’t moved from the door. 

“I wasn’t doing anything bad,” Morrigan says in his ear. Q ignores her.

He can’t read the expression on Bond’s face, but that’s not really a surprise. Q can’t do faces he’s unfamiliar with at the best of times, and this is the opposite of the best of times.

“It’s okay,” Bond says. “M’s ready for you.”

Q nods, throat tight, and stands. He glances up at Bond’s face, again, just in time for him to speak.

“Look after yourself.” 

Q squints at Bond’s lips, because his ear-to-brain connections still aren’t working, and that can’t be what Bond said. Why would Agent Double-oh Seven care about Q, beyond collecting and (not) returning equipment? 

Bond doesn’t wait for an answer though, just slips out into the corridor where Eve is waiting in order to give Q some space. Q watches him until the outer door closes, and then turns to face the inner door.

He sets his shoulders, hisses a warning to Morrigan about being sensible, and marches into M.

M doesn’t banish Q to routine tech maintenance. He tells him to take a week off, during which R will oversee Q-Branch, and reminds him that there are other people who can help him.

“You don’t have to do everything yourself,” M says. It sounds reproachful, but Q knows M, knows this is gentle.

It doesn’t stop him from bristling at the words, but he keeps quiet and nods as Morrigan clicks her beak.

Nyx, perched on the edge of M’s desk, cocks her head and blinks her yellow eyes, and Q droops. 

“A week,” he says.

“A week,” M agrees.

* * *

That morning is the first time Morrigan bothers Earie, but it’s not the last. When Q gets back to work after his week off, Bond is loitering in Q-Branch with Earie lying by his side, leaning on Sam’s desk and watching R at the central table overseeing the wall of screens.

Q doesn’t make much noise coming in – it’s a running joke that he’s accidentally one of the stealthiest people in Vauxhall Cross; R keeps threatening to put a bell on him like a cat, which her cat daemon finds hilarious – but the moment he steps inside the branch, Earie is on her feet and trotting over to greet him.

Before Q can say anything, Morrigan flings herself down to circle Earie, until she alights on Q’s foot and flutters her wings. Earie puts her front legs out and bows until her chin is on the floor so she’s eye level with Morrigan.

“Mor,” Q hisses, twitching his foot until she huffs a long-suffering sigh and flies over to the main table. 

“You don’t need to be so boring,” she says sulkily, and picks her way over to study the blueprints for a new pistol grip.

Bond has watched the entire display from where he’s half stood, half lounging, and Q coughs, embarrassed. True, Earie had come to him first, but that didn’t mean Morrigan could start fussing around her like that. At least Bond doesn’t look too bothered by it.

* * *

Next time, Bond turns up in Q-Branch to debrief after a mission and Morrigan launches herself across the room to land on Earie’s head and clack her beak. This time the mission fuck up was Bond’s fault, and both Q and Morrigan apparently have things they want to say.

“You’re idiots who should stop doing things on your own when you’ve got help,” Morrigan says, scolding, and Q makes a concerted effort to shut out the daemons’ conversation so he can talk to Bond.

He can feel two spots of heat, high on his cheeks, because sure daemons talking to each other isn’t very out of the normal, but he can feel how interested Morrigan is in Earie, and he doesn’t understand.

“I would be nice if you remembered you have backup,” Q says to Bond and waits to see if he’s actually brought any of his equipment back.

He hasn’t, and Q wants to be irritated, but Morrigan is far too happy talking to Earie and Q is still confused but he can’t be angry.

* * *

Another mission, and Bond comes home with a broken earpiece and no gun because it blew up while he was destroying the enemy base, and Morrigan perches on Q’s shoulder to glare at Bond.

“Stop being an idiot out in the field,” she says, and Q sputters for a minute, because daemons don’t really talk to other people.

“Sorry,” a smooth voice says, and Q looks down to see Earie staring up at him, her tail between her legs. “The earpiece really was an accident.”

Q has to take a moment because why is Earie talking to him and also because if the earpiece really was an accident then the gun certainly wasn’t.

“Right,” he says. “Well...try to be more careful in the future.”

“We will,” Earie says.

“You better,” Morrigan says.

* * *

Double-oh Four barely gets out of Lithuania with his life and Q curls up in a corner of Q-Branch to hide. He’s most of the way to crying, and he can’t breath properly, which isn’t helped by the way he’s all crunched up, but he just wants the pressure of the tiny space and his arms wrapped around his knees.

Morrigan is tucked into the gap between his chest and his thighs making chirps that are alternately distressed and coaxing, trying to cheer him up even through her own feelings. 

Neither of them notice anyone approaching until Bond coughs, and Q jolts, turning to face the Agent and his daemon.

Earie pads over to Q, looks up at him, and then very deliberately sets her head on his knee. Q stops breathing.

When he has some of his senses back and can send a questioning look up at Bond, Bond shrugs, looking the most nervous Q has ever seen him.

“Daemons can’t do anything we don’t want them to,” Bond says, “but I apologise if we’ve made you uncomfortable.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Morrigan tells him, soaring up to settle on his shoulder, and that is that.

**Author's Note:**

> No keep notes today, just an author's note:  
> I said I wasn't going to disparage my work on here and I've done really well at keeping that resolution all month but this really is a bit naff; I apologise. I had plans but 1) I started writing this halfway to a meltdown so it start out as Q complaining about autism for 1k words but with daemons and 2) I am so tired and this was the last thing I had to write (tomorrow's is ready to go already), so my brain is kind of giving out on me at the moment. So yeah, sorry to anyone who wanted to see something better than this, but I hope you enjoyed this little bit of daemons being cute together anyway.


End file.
